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Jerry Jallo of Sun City West has been to every country in the world.

Travel

Sun City West couple Jerry Jallo and his wife, JoAnn, have traveled extensively since retirement. Jerry has been to every country in the world and JoAnn has traveled to 103 countries. Jerry uses the Lonely Planet to travel on a shoestring budget.

How would you like to spend the holidays in Bethlehem and
Jerusalem? How about going to Antarctica to watch seals and
penguins?

Jerry Jallo has done both, and more.

It might be a little unbelievable that Jallo has traveled to
every country in the world, but he has the passport stamps and trip
diaries to prove it.

Jallo decided he wanted to visit all 195 countries in the world
after he retired about 20 years ago; he reached that goal after
making a trip to Libya this September.

“I’ve been waiting to get into Libya for three years,” Jallo
said.

The country previously didn’t allow American tourists to visit,
but that policy changed in May, he said.

“I’ve been to Africa 11 times.”

Jallo doesn’t count simply passing through an airport as a visit
to a country; he has spent at least a few hours in each of the
places he has visited, and has even spent the night in 184 of those
countries, a feat he thinks is more impressive.

Jallo has been to every state in the United States, every
province in Canada, and every state in Australia.

He doesn’t speak a wide range of different languages, but has
gotten by with English and Spanish. He spent his 50th wedding
anniversary this spring traveling through the Caribbean to various
islands without even picking up any new countries.

“I’ve always been a traveler,” Jallo said. “I just thought: this
is a wonderful hobby. I would rather be traveling than going out to
play golf five days a week.”

Jallo’s wife, JoAnn, doesn’t always make the trips, but she has
been to 103 countries herself. The couple are Sun City West winter
residents from Minnesota.

The Jallos never check luggage — they do all their world
traveling with two rolling carry-on suitcases and a three-ounce
bottle of detergent to wash their clothes along the way.

“He has the population, religion and the capital of every
country in the world in his head,” JoAnn Jallo said.

Jallo does a lot of research before heading out on his trips,
which can last for months at a time as he treks from country to
country; not only does he want to understand the dynamic of each
area, but he has to obtain the correct visas, read up on what to
see and do, and book tours or hotels, if necessary.

“I do a lot of exploring on the internet in the last 10 years;
before that, it was all Lonely Planet,” Jallo said in reference to
the guide books he used for information.

“I wasn’t staying in Hiltons and Sheratons, I was staying in two
stars,” Jallo said.

The question Jallo probably gets most often is about which of
the countries was his favorite to visit.

“The most interesting intellectually was probably Egypt,” Jallo
said. He and his wife spent a month traveling through the country
he called “the cradle of civilization.”

“He’s a real history nut, too, it’s like going with an
encyclopedia,” JoAnn Jallo said. “He is unique, he’s an excellent
planner.”

All that travel hasn’t been easy. Canceled flights or trouble
gaining access into various countries frustrated Jallo when he just
wanted to complete his list.

“It hasn’t been 100 percent smooth,” Jallo said.

The war-torn or poverty-stricken countries were difficult too,
but for different reasons. Some of the countries, like those in
parts of Africa, have small capital cities with very few options
for tourists, and are just not places you would want to spend a
lengthy amount of time, Jallo said.

While there were times when Jallo would be nervous or worried on
his trips, he said he’s careful. He dresses in old clothes when
he’s traveling so he doesn’t stand out as a tourist. He doesn’t
have pictures from his trips because a camera would be too
noticeable.

“When I travel, I don’t like to be in the dark or where there’s
no light and no people,” Jallo said of his caution.

Jallo said he is proud and plans to continue his years of
travel.

“I was determined,” Jallo said. “I was going to visit every
country in the world, I was just going to do it.”